The Egnatia Motorway runs through Greek mountainous and plain landscapes of exquisite beauty and ecological importance. Its alignment follows the Ancient Roman Via Egnatia. Along this ancient route, within an approximately 1 km wide zone, 270 sites of historical interest have been identified, while in its further vicinity, significant archaeological sites and natural resources of critical importance are located. The successive natural and man-made environments along the project are exceptionally diverse, both through the mountains of Pindos and Western Macedonia, and the plains of Central / Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Along the route of the highway one can find: 17 Natural Habitat Areas protected under the European "Natura 2000" Network 4 Wetlands protected under the Ramsar Convention 70 wildlife conservation areas and 270 sites and monuments of historical interest The final stage of construction (started in spring 2005) concerned the about 37km long section of the West Egnatia Motorway from Panagia to Grevena, running through one of the most picturesque forests of Pindos. In co-operation with various environmental organizations (Arktouros http://www.arcturos.gr/en/, etc.) and with the contribution of foreign experts, the promoter has decided to realize a road alignment that is particularly "environment-friendly", comprising twin bore tunnels, approximately 10.5 km long and large twin deck bridges, more than 1.5 km long, in order to meet all the environmental demands, as well as to reduce the impacts on the brown bear habitat. A special observatory was designed to monitor and to assess the effects of the motorway on the local ecology during both construction and operation phases of the project (http://observatory.egnatia.gr/index_en.htm). Objective of this Earth Observation demonstration project was to provide the EIB with up-to-date information on the situation regarding the progress of the construction works, a time series of the fragmentation of sensitive areas - focused on the habitat of large mammals like the brown bear - at the time before construction works started (before 2005), during the construction phase (2008) and after finalization of the road. The latter was to be simulated based on the road planning data. |